Volunteering gives you an opportunity to change people’s lives, including your own. It gives you the satisfaction of playing a role in someone else’s life, helping people who may not be able to help themselves. Volunteering is a way of giving back to your community while developing important social skills, and gaining valuable work experience all at the same time. There are so many beneficial ways of getting involved in and giving back to your community. Why not spend a little time helping others, because in the end, what goes around comes around.

Volunteering is not only effective, but it’s a good way to meet people, learn, and develop social skills. A volunteer also benefits themselves because they get to see how their contribution has made a difference. This experience contributes to personal development especially in areas such as self-fulfillment, self-confidence, and self-esteem which often flourish in the midst of volunteering experiences. Knowing that you made a positive impact on someone is an emotionally uplifting experience that can never be matched by money or fame.

It is often said that a person’s high school years are some of the most important they will experience, and are often seen as a critical and life-shaping time. During this period in their life people often begin to discover what is meaningful to them and how they plan to continue living their life. Although the teen years are sometimes seen as tumultuous and full of difficulties, in reality I think they can be meaningful and filled with change and important decisions. My volunteer experience at St. Clare’s Hospital has helped me form this positive experience during my high school years; through valuable lessons I have learned life skills and have begun to shape my values and mind-set. In the course of my volunteering at the hospital I have discovered how to interact with others, learned to respect diversity, realized the importance of service, and gained perspective. Volunteering at St. Clare’s Hospital has taught me how to interact with people and effectively cooperate alongside others. When I first began volunteering, I was very nervous about meeting new people and being pushed outside of my comfort zone. The beginning of my volunteer experience I was rather timid and not very extraverted. I am learning to introduce myself to new volunteers, go out of my way to make patients feel welcome, and overall how to extend a hand of friendship to others. Not only does this skill apply to my personal life, but will also be extremely helpful in my academic life and the “real world.”

I think one of the most significant values I have gained through my experience at St. Clare’s Hospital is the importance of service. Service, involves making a difference in the lives of others and contributing to the community. I believe that through volunteering at the hospital, I can embody this value. Each time I end my volunteer shift, I feel better and as if I have done something worthwhile. This feeling has fueled me to continue volunteering, and has now become something I see as irreplaceable. In the past I have been frustrated by my situation, and was discouraged because I felt I might not make a significant difference due to my young age. However, I am relieved of this because I feel that through the hospital volunteer program I can try to do my part and help others. Even if it is not major, just the ability to brighten the day of a lonely patient can bring fulfillment, and the hope that I can indeed do something. Because of my involvement at St. Clare’s Hospital, I have come to include service as a necessary part of my life. This is why I volunteer – because I feel an obligation to do my best to help others and contribute to society in any way I can. I think this is a basic part of civil duty, and I know that I would appreciate volunteers if sometime I was in the hospital. I also feel that my love and compassion for people are strengths especially applicable to service, and that volunteering my time is the best way I can satisfy this calling. I know that my experience as a St. Clare’s Hospital volunteer has been a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person, and I have made use of this to the best of my ability. I genuinely think that without my volunteer experience, I may have been a different person, lacking these skills and ideals. I have matured and gained valuable skills, as well as learned important lessons about life. Many people my age do not have an experience similar to this, where they are in an environment based solely upon healing and helping others, and I think they have truly missed out. I will continue on this path of service throughout my life, and I know that because of my volunteer experience I have benefited, and that these benefits will carry on as I develop and become an adult.

Volunteering is not a choice, it’s a responsibility!